Varsity Football Trounced by Vipers in Final Game of Season

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  • Right back Ananias Vance ’24 runs the ball down the field. He was able to gain several yardages for the team.

  • The Warriors gather to talk game strategy and slow down the clock during the game. The strategy was used several times during the game.

  • Quarterback Owen Norrell ’24 passes the ball. The Warriors attempted to move the ball up the field slowly to limit the amount of time the Vipers had possession of the ball.

  • Right back Demani Stewart ’24 attempts to run the ball down the field. Grant Jaegar ’23 helped prevent defense from coming close to the ball.

  • Right back Demani Stewart ’24 attempts to run the ball down the field. Grant Jaegar ’23 helped prevent defense from coming close to the ball.

  • The sundancers perform during half time. This was the last time they performed at a football game this season.

  • The Sundancers perform during halftime. This was their last performance of the football season.

  • The Warriors run out of the tent after halftime. The team maintained a positive spirit during the beginning of the second half.

  • Katie Park ’23 receives a flower after halftime. All of the seniors were handed flowers after being recognized for their hard work for the past four years.

  • The sundancers socialize after their halftime performance. The sundancers and the cheerleaders cheered together at the sidelines for the last game of the season.

  • The cheerleaders cheer with the student section after half time. Despite the loss, the spirit remained present throughout the duration of the game.

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On Thursday, Nov. 3, the Warriors lost to the Vandegrift Vipers 56-10 for the last game of the season. This season, the Warriors went 4-6 and 1-6 in district play, with the only in-district win being against McNeil for the homecoming game.

In the first quarter, the Warriors kept the ball away from the Vipers and drove it down slowly with runs and short pass plays for nine first-downs and four fourth-down conversions. The team drove a total of 75-yards in the first 11 minutes of the first quarter, scoring with 1:23 remaining in the quarter.

“Next year’s football season starts right now in my mind,” Coach Anthony Wood said. “For now, we’ll re-evaluate our style and evaluate who we’ve got now and see what we can do with them.”

The Westwood deadly second quarter stroke again with 14 unanswered points from Vandegrift and 21 points scored on Westwood in the quarter. However, the Warriors continued attempting slow drives and stuck to their game plan, resulting in a field goal and setting the halftime score at 21-10.

“Just like any and every year, our ultimate goal is to get to the Texas 6A high school playoffs,” Wood said, “and any way to reach a goal is to shift to the problems presented.”

In the third quarter, the Vandegrift offense ran over the Westwood defense, racking up another 21 unanswered points. Even though the Vipers were up 30 points throughout the third quarter, they started to pass more and even ran two different trick plays to try and trip up the already tired Westwood defense despite their deficit.

The final quarter of the game was the slowest of all, with Westwood fatigued and Vandegrift’s never-ending aggressive offense. However, Westwood was able to pick up the pace toward the 10-minute mark and drive the ball down to the 30. However, due to a few untimely flags and an interception, the offense was stopped for one final time.

“I really thought that this year we were much more physical and had a bigger energy towards the team,” Wood said. “I thought we were a much better team this year compared to last year.” 

As this was the last game of the season, there will not be any more football games this year. However, the Warriors will come back at it again in August 2023 for the start of the new season.